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Lady Falcons, Lions win in doubleheader at Aerie

WALKERTON — The Lady Falcons regained some confidence with a 59-40 win, and the Lions closed strong in a 52-47 win over the host Falcons in a boys-girls doubleheader at The Aerie Friday night.

LADY FALCONS 59, LADY LIONS 40
John Glenn’s girls basketball team won 11 consecutive games earlier this season.
According to Glenn head coach Kyle Amor, though, the Lady Falcons’ 59-40 Northern State Conference win over Bremen Friday in the opener at The Aerie counted as his team’s most significant conquest.
“This was the most important win of the season,” Amor, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak, said. “After the last two games we were dejected and lost some confidence. This got us back on track. I give a lot of credit to (Bremen head coach) Tonja (Lucchese) for her team playing that hard. We found a way to win. We’re still that blue-collar team that has to work every possession.”
Trailing 31-27 with 4:39 left in the third quarter, Glenn reeled off a 19-3 run over the next eight minutes to seize command.
Senior forward Katie Dreessen, one of four Falcons in double figures with 11 points, powered the surge with a game-tying basket off a feed from sophomore guard Natalie Shetler, and put Glenn up 33-31 with a reverse layup with 3:45 to play in the third frame.
“(Dreessen) has put us on her back,” Amor said. “The Adams game (Dec. 20) turned a switch for her. I can see it in her eyes; she wants the ball, she has a nose for the ball. As bad as we played at times, she just refused to let us lose.”
Senior guard Carah Ochs scored a game-high 13 points and collected four steals for Glenn. Her triple from the right corner gave the Falcons a 46-34 lead with 5:05 left in the game.
“(Ochs) lost her shot a little bit, but it’s starting to come back,” Amor said. “When she’s hitting that makes us a much tougher team to guard.”
Also for the Falcons, Shetler and classmate Kyler Columbia chipped in 11 points apiece; Columbia also dished out a game-leading five assists.
Meanwhile, senior Megan Stouder led a balanced Lions attack with nine points, including a steal and basket to put Bremen on top 31-27 early in the third quarter. Freshman Chelsea Huppert ripped down nine rebounds for Bremen, and Ashley Lucchese dished out four steals.
“I think we let some easy shots go,” Bremen head coach Tonja Lucchese said of the 19-3 Glenn run. “We were playing aggressive defense, and then we had quite a few people in foul trouble, quite a few of our guards. We backed off a little bit; we couldn’t be as aggressive.
“I think this was a good team game,” she added. “I thought we played hard and looked for each other. I’m happy with the team effort.”
Both teams open Bi-County Tournament action Tuesday. Bremen heads to Culver Community, while Glenn travels to Oregon-Davis.
• JOHN GLENN 59,
BREMEN 40
At Walkerton
Score by quarters
Bremen: 7 27 33 40
Glenn: 15 27 40 59
BREMEN (40): Jasmine Stouder 1 3-4 5, Cassie Sears 1 0-0 2, Ashley Lucchese 3 0-0 7, Megan Stouder 4 0-0 9, Sara Slabaugh 2 0-0 6, Rachel Czarnecki 3 0-0 6, Brooke Snyder 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Huppert 0 3-4 3; Totals: 15 6-8 40.
GLENN (59): Carah Ochs 3 4-4 13, Kyler Columbia 2 7-9 11, Dillynn Schleg 1 0-0 2, Brooke Nowicki 0 0-0 0, Natalie Shetler 3 2-4 11, Katie Dreessen 4 3-4 11, Hannah Strange 1 0-1 2, Loren Vukovits 3 1-9 7, Morgan Eggleston 1 0-0 2, Erin Patterson 0 0-0 0; Totals: 18 17-31 59.
3-point goals: Bremen 4 (Slabaugh 2, Lucchese, Stouder), Glenn 6 (Ochs 3, Shetler 3); Turnovers: Bremen 32, Glenn 21; Rebounds: Bremen 40 (Huppert 11), Glenn 33 (Vukovits 7); Assists: Bremen 10 (Lucchese 4), Glenn 12 (Columbia 5); Steals: Bremen 7 (Schafer 2), Glenn 9 (Ochs 4); Fouls (fouled out): Bremen 29 (Stouder, Snyder), Glenn 14 (none); Records: Bremen 1-13 (1-4 NSC), Glenn 12-3 (4-1 NSC).
LIONS 52, FALCONS 47
Bremen’s boys basketball team put on a pretty fair end-of-the-game clinic Friday.
Protecting a narrow lead, the Lions took care of the basketball, managed the clock, and hit 8 of 9 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter en route to a 52-47 Northern State Conference win over John Glenn at The Aerie Friday.
“The first key we put on our board in the locker room was taking care of the basketball,” Bremen head coach Ryan Eakins said. “You have to take care of the basketball if you’re going to win on the road in the NSC.
“We did a good job taking care of the basketball, getting the ball to the right people in the right spots, and then hitting free throws,” he added. “Kai Slough and Don Browning have done a phenomenal job hitting free throws at the end of games.”
Junior point guard Kai Slough, who attempted just three shots from the field all night, sank four charity tosses in the final 6.7 seconds to stretch a slim one-point Bremen edge into the final margin.
“(Slough) ran the offense all game, defended all game, and I think he’d only taken two or three shots and then he goes to the line,” Eakins said. “When you’ve only taken two shots it can be hard to step to the line and knock down free throws in the last 30 seconds, but he did. He’s just a really tough kid.”
Meanwhile, the Falcons struggled to a 9-for-20 mark from the free-throw line, 4 of 10 in the final frame, and turned the ball over 18 times for the game.
“At the beginning of the year we couldn’t get to the free-throw line because we weren’t aggressive enough,” Glenn head coach Travis Hannah said. “In practice we’ve concentrated on free-throw shooting and they have to run if they don’t hit 80 percent. In a close game like this free throws are a big part of the game and we just missed too many. Add 18 turnovers; that’s not going to win an NSC game.”
Senior Ethan Pike scored 15 of his game-high 29 points over the final nine minutes against a variety of defensive schemes to lead the Lions. His old fashioned 3-point play off a post move from the right block broke a 40-all deadlock and put the Lions up for good, 43-40 with 3:20 left in the game. Pike also pulled down a team-leading seven boards.
“It’s a luxury as a coach to have an Ethan Pike,” Eakins said. “It’s no surprise to the other team that he’s going to get the ball, but he rises to the occasion. He took a 25-footer from the left wing that was a terrible shot, but he knocked it down because he’s playing with so much confidence. The rest of the team is getting him the ball; he owes a lot to his teammates.”
Also for the Lions, senior Jacob Box added 11 points and three assists, and Don Browning chipped in eight points.
Glenn junior Austen Hayes scored a team-high 13 points, highlighted by a conventional 3-point play to knot the game at 40-40 at the 3:37 mark of the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Jake Strong chipped in 12 points for the Falcons, including a long triple from the left wing to pull Glenn within a point, 48-47 with 6.0 seconds left. He also defended Pike admirably much of the evening.
“Jake did a tremendous job on Pike, but the scorebook’s not going to show it,” Hannah said. “We gave Pike way too many easy shots because we didn’t rotate fast enough.”
Also for the Falcons, freshman forward Alec Runyan controlled the glass with a game-high 14 rebounds, and senior Nathan Stegemiller tacked on nine points.
“I thought Alec Runyan did a great job getting to the glass,” Hannah said. “He’s getting stronger. Jake played the whole game, and Austen played almost the whole game. We’re getting better. We’re better this week than we were last week, and we’ll be better next week than we were this week. We’re going through growing pains. I’m tired of using that as an excuse; I’m not a patient person.”
Both teams tip off Bi-County Tournament play on the road Tuesday. Bremen visits Culver Community, while Glenn travels to Oregon-Davis.
• BREMEN 52,
JOHN GLENN 47
At Walkerton
Score by quarters
Bremen: 12 23 37 52
Glenn: 10 22 31 47
BREMEN (52): Don Browning 3 2-3 8, Ethan Pike 11 4-7 29, Jacob Box 4 2-3 11, Sam Lacher 0 0-0 0, Phoenix Ricketts 0 0-0 0, Kai Slough 0 4-4 4, Dillon Mullen 0 0-0 0; Totals: 18 12-17 52.
GLENN (47): Alec Runyan 2 2-6 6, Austen Hayes 4 4-6 13, Tyler Prentkowski 1 0-0 3, Drew McDonald 2 0-0 4, Jacob Strong 4 3-6 12, Calvin Kretchmer 0 0-0 0, Nathan Stegemiller 3 0-2 9, Levi Schleg 0 0-0 0; Totals: 16 9-20 47.
3-point goals: Bremen 4 (Pike 3, Box), Glenn 6 (Stegemiller 3, Hayes, Prentkowski, Strong); Turnovers: Bremen 12, Glenn 17; Rebounds: Bremen 19 (Pike 7), Glenn 32 (Runyan 14); Assists: Bremen 10 (Box 3), Glenn 7 (McDonald 3); Steals: Bremen 5 (Ricketts 2), Glenn 3; Fouls (fouled out): Bremen 16 (none), Glenn 17 (Stegemiller).
Records: Bremen 7-3 (3-0 NSC), Glenn 1-8 (0-3 NSC).